CBSI Technical Working Group on crime prevention convenes in Jamaica next week

The CARICOM Secretariat, in collaboration with the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) will convene a Technical Working Group (TWG) on crime prevention next week.

The working group will be in Jamaica from November 3-5 to examine the development of cross-cutting, comprehensive, and regional approaches to crime prevention by focusing on at-risk youth and vulnerable populations. The group will also facilitate prioritisation and sequencing of CBSI programming and suggest appropriate metrics and benchmarks to measure programme impact.

The TWG will also facilitate the exchange of information, sharing of best practices, and the development of common approaches and new partnerships between the US and the Caribbean towards evidence-based research, capacity-building initiatives, institutional strengthening, training and certification and synchronisation of legislation.

Participants will include the USAID, the US Department of State, as well as Caribbean-identified experts in the field of crime prevention and at-risk youth who could participate in the TWG on an on-going basis. It is anticipated that these experts will come from government, non-government, academic, and private institutions. In addition, the TWG will seek to include other public and private partners.

The CBSI brings all members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republictogether to jointly collaborate on regional security with the United States as a partner.

The CBSI has identified three core objectives to address the crime and security threats facing the Caribbean:

1. Substantially Reduce Illicit Trafficking: through programmes ranging from counter-narcotics to reducing the flow of illegal arms/light weapons.
2. Increase Public Safety and Security:through programmes ranging from reducing crime and violence to improving border security.
3. Promote Social Justice: through programmes designed to promote justice sector reform, combat government corruption, and assist vulnerable populations at risk of recruitment into criminal organisations.

In an effort to contribute to achieving those objectives, the TWG will focus on education, workforce development, civic participation and juvenile justice sector reform. The group will delve into issues such as the factors driving youth into gangs; providing at-risk youth and vulnerable populations with productive alternatives to drugs; crime and gang activity; and strengthening the capacity of schools to pursue or facilitate evidence-informed programmes to prevent and reduce all forms of bullying and other forms of school violence.

It is expected that in the end, CARICOM countries and the Dominican Republic will benefit from initiatives that will result in less crime and violence in their communities, and young people will also become less inclined to become involved in criminal activity.

The United States has committed $263M in funding to the CBSI since 2010.